Cancer (see more articles like this)

WHO: Arsenic is commonly used as an insecticide, but for one Central Florida woman, it proved to be a life-saver.  Twenty-one-year-old Tanairi Fernandez was in college when she was first diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, one that affects only about 1,500 people each year in the United States.  She ignored the symptoms for a while – bruising, bleeding gums, extreme tiredness – until she could no longer deny that something was wrong.  She was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with cancer.  Soon after, she learned of a new clinical trial at Florida Hospital Cancer Institute (FHCI), one that involved arsenic.  She went on the trial and has now been in remission for two years.  In fact, she is eight months pregnant now and expecting her first baby this June, a little boy!

WHAT: The clinical trial at FHCI studied whether arsenic trioxide (Trisenox®) would be effective in helping to prevent a relapse or recurrence of the cancer after initial chemotherapy treatment.  Patients assigned to the experimental treatment received the same standard treatment in addition to two courses of arsenic trioxide immediately after they entered a complete or partial remission and before the standard post-remission regimen.  Patients who remained in remission after treatment then received oral chemotherapy drugs for an additional year to prevent the leukemia from returning.

The clinical trial showed significant results, and treatment involving arsenic trioxide has now become the standard form of treatment for patients with this rare type of leukemia. The treatment has also received approval from the Food and Drug Administration.  The patients on the clinical trial had a better overall survival rate after three years – 86 percent compared to 77 percent. 

FHCI has the largest clinical trials program in Central Florida and currently has 107 trials open. 

BCKGRND: The rare form of leukemia that Fernandez was diagnosed with, acute promyelocytic leukemia, is most often diagnosed in young and middle-aged adults, but it can also occur in children and older adults.  Standard chemotherapy treatments showed a 70 percent remission rate among patients and a five-year survival rate without the cancer recurring in 35-45 percent of patients. 

VIDEO: Video available upon request including:
• Interview with Dr. Lee Zehngebot, FHCI Research Director and principal investigator on the arsenic trioxide clinical trial
• Interview with patient Tanairi Fernandez, who is now in remission and eight months pregnant after being on this cancer clinical trial
• B-roll of patient at home getting ready for her first baby
• B-roll of chemotherapy drugs